Two Everyday Recipes -or- Revenge of the Quiche

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Tasha

So this last week I found myself feeling swamped, just completely underwater on things to do. I’m not sure how it happened, but suddenly not only was there not enough time for all the things I’d like to do (never is), there wasn’t enough for all the things I needed to do.

I’ve been feeling a milder version of this all fall, like I’ve got a lot to do, and while I still want to eat a homemade dinner every night, I don’t necessarily want to make one up from scratch every night. Much less do I want to make something separate for lunch! Woe to those who might ask me what’s to eat when I’m feeling overwhelmed . . .

I’ve been making a lot of these (and a lot of soups, too), things that last well beyond the initial meal and are pretty much ready to go subsequently. I’m calling them tarts, like the savory French tarts. I kind of wore out my own use and conception of the word quiche in the first year I ever joined a CSA. That time, Bryan and I split a share with my parents, and my dad and I, who were the main cooks of the project, fell back on quiche again and again as a way to use up all the greens we got. After that (and discovering more uses for the green stuff), I didn’t make it much. At all. For years.

It’s baaaack … and better than before! I’ve been making a crust with a little cornmeal in it, and a variety of interesting new fillings. My two current favorites (recipes below) are: leek and potato with green chile, and sweet potato with greens.

Savory Tart Crust with Cornmeal

Note: if you are going gluten free, or just happen to run out of flour, it’s easy to make these recipes crustless. Just grease your pie pan well, and skip to the fillings.

If you’re making a crust, make it first, so that it has plenty of time to chill.

Mix in a small bowl:

1 cup flour (white, whole wheat, or a mixture, your choice)

1/4 cup corn meal (blue is my favorite)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in 5 Tablespoons butter until the biggest chunks are pea-sized. Mix in very cold water just a little bit at a time, until the dough holds together, and then put the dough in the refrigerator.

Potato, Leek and Green Chile

Cut off the tops/dark green parts of 2-3 medium-sized leeks. (Did you know you can use those tops instead of onions for soup stock? I’ve been doing it all the time lately.) Slice the leeks in half, rinse out dirt, and chop into fairly thin slices. Melt 1 Tablespoon butter over med/low heat, add the leeks and a generous splash of white wine or sherry (or water, but I recommend the wine). Continue cooking, covered, on low, adding more wine if necessary to keep moist, until the leeks are translucent and slightly gooey. (I got this idea from a recipe for leek confit on Bon Appétit, and it’s been a go-to for leeks since.)

Set the oven to 425° F. Slice 2 small/medium potatoes fairly thin, skin on (scrub them first). Place them on a cookie sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil, and salt if desired. Toss to coat and roast for about 10 minutes, until browned on one side, turn the slices over and roast another 5 minutes or so, until both sides have golden brown spots. Set aside.

Chop 1-2 roasted green chiles (depending on heat). (Aren’t you glad you froze some?)

Sweet Potato and Greens

I used kale for this, use 1 bunch of whatever greens you need to get rid of. Slice or pull the leaves from the ribs, and steam them in a steamer basket over simmering water until bright green and wilted. Chop or pulse in the food processor depending on how fine you want them chopped.

Roast sweet potatoes the same way as the potatoes above.

Egg Filling & Assembly

Lower the oven temp to 375° F

For either version (or your own creation) get out the crust, and roll it into a rough circle. It doesn’t need to be too thin, the recipe makes plenty. I use a 9″ pie pan. Set the crust in your pan and press it into shape. If necessary adjust the sides by pulling off overhanging pieces and sticking them in gaps.

Beat together (you can use the pie crust bowl):

4 eggs
Update: I’m not sure how or why, but when I first started making these I thought 4 eggs was plenty … now I don’t, and I almost always use 5. If you find that you’ve made more filling than you intended and it doesn’t seem like there’s enough egg in the mixture, you can even use 6. The whole thing will be thicker and may take a little longer to cook, but it’s up to you!

A generous splash heavy cream

A few Tablespoons grated cheese (seriously, any cheese you have on hand and like is good.)

Fresh ground pepper

(Salt is optional, depending on taste and saltiness of cheese)

Pour a bit of the egg mixture into the bottom of the crust (or the pan if you are going no-crust). Add your vegetables. If you are using potatoes I highly recommend putting them on top, so they get nice and browned. Bake for about 40 minutes, turning once, until the tart is golden on top, puffed up, and just moist inside when tested with a knife.

One of these makes a good part of a dinner, plus a few more lunches/brunches for me and Bryan—hooray! It might be a good option to stave off the hungry hoards while you work on Thanksgiving dinner, or a good make-ahead family breakfast for a special day. Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving all you Americans!

Pancakes with Greens

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Tasha

Real-life pocket-camera photo of the pancakes just before they were devoured, with tomato sauce and another recipe from Plenty, roasted veggies with caper and lemon dressing – delicious!

My friend Megan grew up in the south. She loves greens; collards, kale, chard, you name it. She loves them just cooked and piled up on a plate. However, as I have confessed before, I just don’t like them like that, I find it too slimy, too bitter, too dark and green. But I think of her when I find a way to eat greens that I do like, such as this one from Plenty by Yotam Otelenghi. If you’re at all interested in eating vegetables, this cookbook is a must-read. Lots and lots of new ideas and flavors. I’m pretty sure that it made a great big splash when it came out a couple of years ago, but somehow I missed it. I like finding good things that I’ve missed, and you can keep them longer from the library. Bryan and I have been cooking together a lot lately, and we raced through this book, I don’t think I’ve ever made so many recipes from one source in such a short time. Good thing too, because even though it’s not a new book, someone else requested it at the library and I had to give it back after three weeks. I’ll just have to get my own copy.

In the meantime, I really wanted to make these pancakes for Megan when I saw her. She’s eating dairy-free for a while, so I had to adapt the recipe (even more than I already had). But to my delight the pancakes are just as good! The key to this recipe is to beat the egg whites to soft peaks and then fold them into the batter. It makes a lovely light texture and holds everything together.

The original recipe has you fold lime and herbs into softened butter, then refrigerate it again, and put on the pancakes. They are delicious with the flavored butter (I used lemon and thyme), but just as good with a plain pat of butter, and/or with tomato sauce on top. I bet they’re good with your favorite sauce and condiments as well.

Greens Pancakes

Adapted (a lot) from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Pull the greens from the stems of one large bunch or two small bunches of green stuff: collard greens, chard, kale, spinach, etc. You should have about 8 cups. Steam in a steamer basket over simmering water until bright green and wilted.

Meanwhile, mix together in a large bowl:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 egg yolks

2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter -or- olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2/3 cup milk -or- water

2 green onions, finely sliced

1/4 cup fresh or frozen and thawed or canned green chiles -or- sub a little of your favorite hot sauce

Chop the steamed greens fairly fine and mix them in as well. The batter will look like mostly greens held together with a little flour and stuff, and that’s fine.

Beat the egg whites on medium-high speed with a mixer until they hold a soft peak when you pull the beaters away. Fold the egg whites into the batter gently with a rubber spatula, just until everything is combined.

Put a little oil (it really doesn’t take much for them not to stick) in a frying pan, and heat it over medium-low heat. Ladle about a quarter cup of batter into the pan for each pancake, and flatten it out a bit. Cook until deep brown on the bottom, then flip with a metal spatula and cook the other side. Put the pancakes on a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest.

Enjoy!

Spanakopita

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Tasha

Ok, confession time. Even though I eat almost exclusively vegetarian (a little fish) and try to buy local food (even in winter), I am not one of those people who can just dig into a big pile of slimy cooked greens. Nope, not happening. When we joined our CSA a couple of seasons ago and got flooded with chard, kale, mizuna, and other crazy crinkly green stuff, I had to find some creative solutions, and this remains one of my favorites.

This recipe had its genesis in The Joy of Cooking, my all-time pick for only cookbook I’d take to a desert island. It is totally its own creature now.

Spanakopita/Kaleakopita/Chardakopita

Makes one 9 x 12 pan, or similar size

Preheat oven to 375

Get 1 bunch spinach, kale, chard, or un-identified green from CSA (as long as it’s the kind you cook)

Wash and stem this, my favorite method is to grab the stem with one hand and pull the leafy stuff off with the other hand. Put the stemmed greens in a pot with a steamer basket and some water in the bottom. Bring the water to a boil and then turn it down to medium – low heat, let the water simmer until the greens are bright green and relaxed.

Meanwhile, finely chop ½ large onion and 1 large garlic clove

Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet or pan until it just starts to have a golden color. Add the garlic and stir and cook for about another minute.

Put the onion and garlic in a bowl.

When the greens are done, use tongs to transfer them to a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped (or how you like them). Add them to the onion bowl.

Also add to the bowl:

– About 8 oz feta cheese – the real sheep feta is awesome if you can find it!

– A little more cheese – parmesan or Greek hard cheese is traditional, but I like to use a hard goat cheese. I put in a couple tablespoons, but you can vary to taste. If you use the really nice feta, don’t put in so much other cheese that it overwhelms the flavor.

– 4 eggs

– A few grinds of black pepper – the cheese is salty enough for me so I don’t add any more salt

Mix this all together.

Melt (I like to just drop it in the onion pan) 2 Tablespoons butter

Get out your thawed frozen phyllo dough

You may need to cut the phyllo sheets in half. If so, tightly wrap what’s left and put it back in the fridge. Working quickly, brush a little butter in the pan, lay down a sheet, lightly brush it with butter, lay down the next sheet, etc. until you have used 8 – 10 sheets or half your stack. Spread on the filling, then repeat with the rest of the phyllo sheets. If you have some butter left, spread more on the top sheet or two. Cut the spanakopita into pieces through the top layer of dough, then put in the oven and bake until the top is golden and the filling looks solid where you cut it, about 40 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, cut through the bottom, and enjoy!